June 19, 2013 Peter Grier and Harry Bruinius: In the end, NSA might not need to snoop so secretly after all Howard LaFranchi: Taliban peace talks hold glimmer of hope, but also unanswerable questions Warren Richey: Supreme Court: For right to remain silent, a suspect must speak Meredith Cohn: Leeches are making a comeback as medical helpers Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to pick the healthiest breakfast cereal How drivel wins applause The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: Spicy Double Chocolate Banana Muffins June 17, 2013 Rabbi Simcha Weinstein: Black to the Future: American Apparel Gets Biblical Patrik Jonsson: Minnesota Nazi: How did Nazi hunters miss Michael Karkoc? Kate Irby, Ali Watkins, Trevor Graff and Kevin Thibodeaux: All the ways you're being watched Don Lee: G-8 meeting will test NSA leaks' effect on U.S. influence Patrik Jonsson: Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now? Stacey Burling: Why the stigma for migraine sufferers? The Kosher Gourmet by Lisa Abraham: Does it work? 5 new kitchen gadgets put to the test June 14, 2013 Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget: Religious economics and being a ruler John P. Martin: Hitler insider's missing diary found Matt Pearce: NSA surveillance disclosure could affect court cases Peter Tinti: US bounties changes strategy on (Wild, Wild) West African jihadis Daniel Pendrick, M.D.: Memory loss? Old age may be the least of it Lauren F. Friedman: But it's all natural! Should we have an instinctive preference for herbal remedies? Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Streisand and Alicia Keys in Israel; "Girls" Stuff; Mel Brooks, Another TV special; Superman (who is Jewish) returns --- Israeli plays his mom The Kosher Gourmet by Sharon K. Ghag : Bored with salad? Bling it up a bit (4 effortless recipes that will result in a 'WOW!') June 12, 2013 Stephanie Hanes: Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect Fred Weir: In tweak to US, Russia would 'consider' asylum for Snowden Sharon Palmer, R.D.: What's so special about Omega-3 supplements? Morgan Housel: What newspapers were saying when you should have been buying Pete Spotts: How cockroaches evolved so as to bypass 'roach motels' The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: Deep-dish cookie: Warm, gooey and a little over the top June 10, 2013 Joseph A. Slobodzian: Faith healing and third degree murder: Thorny legal case Lindsay Wise: Few options for online users to avoid spying, experts say Sharon Palmer, R.D.: There are plenty of nutritional food bargains out there Harvard Health Letters: Can bariatric surgery control diabetes? Zach Murdock: Superglue helps doctors save infant's life The Kosher Gourmet by Celebrated chef Mario Batali : As good as grilling gets: Rib eye with dry mushroom spice rub June 7, 2013 Rabbi David Aaron: Beating jealousy Caroline B. Glick: Wounded . . . and dangerous Clifford D. May: Al Qaeda vs. Hezbollah Harvard Health Letters: Fighting back against allergy season Kimberly Lankford: Grandparents who use FSA to cover grandkid's braces and other must-know info Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom:J ewish Tony Nominees/Tony Awards; Jewish Teen Actor In Sci-Fi Flick; Jewish singer in "Voice" finals The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: A tart filling so good it might not make it to the crust June 5, 2013 John Rosemond: Mom, Dad: Talk More and listen less Kristen Chick: Egypt court sentences 43 pro-democracy workers to prison Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Mushrooms Have Medicinal As Well As Culinary Value Morgan Housel: Why you never learn from your investment mistakes Don Lee: In China, kindergarten rivalry takes deadly turn The Kosher Gourmet by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan: 30-Minute Coq au Vin isn't a dream June 3, 2013 Molly Hennessy-Fiske: Military judge to consider letting Fort Hood shooting defendant represent himself Richard A. Serrano: Pvt. Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks trial also a test for government Mark Trumbull: Have degree, driving cab: Nearly half of college grads are overqualified Kim Lankford: What to do when long-term care insurance premiums rise Deborah Netburn: Study: Adults' mouth bacteria may help babies Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Contestant on 'The Voice'; Will Smith's 'Jewish movie family'; Bravo Gives Long Island Jews the Jersey Shore Treatment; Magicians and More The Kosher Gourmet by Bill Ward: How to be as refined as the wines at a wine tasting May 29, 2013 Andrew Connelly and Helene Bienvenu: The Little Synagogue that Refused to Die Dennis Prager: The 'Muslims-Killed-by-the-West' Lie David Clark Scott: Open war on teachers? Morgan Housel: If you know only five things about investing, make it these Sara Reardon: AGenome detectives change the donation game Deborah Netburn: A one-way ticket to Mars? 78,000-plus and counting apply by video The Kosher Gourmet by Bev Bennett: CHEDDAR AND CHERRY MUFFINS --- your mouth is already watering May 24, 2013 Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: When I didn't so 'humbly disagree' Caroline B. Glick: Thank you, Hafez al-Assad Diana West: From the Brooklyn Bridge to London Morgan Housel: Why spotting bubbles is so much harder than you think Environmental Nutrition editors: NuVal labeling to the rescue? Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Memorial Day: Jews Serving and KIA in War on Terror; Liberace Bio-Pic; Jew Wins "Survivor"; Shalom, Dr. Brothers; More The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: HIDE THESE FROZEN TREATS FROM THE KIDDIES!: Sangria pops; Irish cream pudding pops; mango Lassi pops May 22, 2013 John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang May 20, 2013 Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man? Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting

Jewish World Review Jan. 9, 2009 / 13 Teves 5769 What Makes for Success? By Mona Charen http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | What accounts for a writer who is just deliciously engaging? If Malcolm Gladwell, author of the new book "Outliers," were answering the question, he would say that success is a combination of luck and pluck — with a lot of hard work as the predicate. We Americans, raised on rags to riches stories, tend to downplay the role of luck in stories of great achievement. We tend to think of success, particularly outstanding success, as the conquest of genius over all obstacles. We build metaphorical plinths for the Bill Gateses or the Bill Joys of the world. We tell stories about them that emphasize their precocity: "Bill Joy got a perfect score on the math portion of the SAT" and "Bill Gates started a computer company in his garage while still in his teens." What Gladwell shows is not that talent doesn't matter, but that great success is nearly always talent matched to good fortune. He begins with the story of hockey players in Canada. The Canadians are mad for the sport and begin a vetting process for players as early as kindergarten. On the surface it looks like a perfect meritocracy. The kids from the youngest leagues who show ability are chosen for the best teams in the intermediate leagues, and so forth on up to the professional level. Except it isn't. Someone (a hockey mom) noticed a few years back that the kids in the teen league had something in common — more than 80 percent of them had birthdays in the first three months of the year. It turns out that because those kids were the largest and most coordinated at the age of 5, when the first "merit" cut was made for higher leagues, they got chosen. And because they then received better coaching and more ice time, they improved more than later born kids. Their initial lucky advantage was reinforced. The early birthday rule applies even to professional players. The early birthday advantage doesn't apply to all sports — not all have the limitation of scarce rink space. For example, basketball players don't need to compete for opportunities to practice their game because balls and courts are plentiful. But birth dates — years, not months — play a surprisingly large role in other areas of achievement. Gladwell notes that to take advantage of the computer revolution, you had to be born in a year that prepared you to take advantage of the programming revolution. That revolution — from cumbersome cards that had to be hand-loaded to time-sharing multiple terminals connected by phone lines — happened around 1971. Bill Joy was at the University of Michigan at the time, one of the few campuses in the world that had such a computer. Joy spent thousands of hours in the computer center learning programming. He was in the right place at the right time. Those just a bit older were already working for IBM and stuck in an old paradigm. Those still in high school would miss the big moment. You'd need to be 20 or 21 in 1975. Now consider these birthdays: Bill Gates: 10/28/1955; Bill Joy: 11/8/1954; Steve Jobs: 2/24/1955. And many more. Luck alone is never enough. All of the "outliers" are terrifically hard workers in addition to being smart enough (genius is not necessary). In fact, if I understand Gladwell correctly, he'd probably put hard work above IQ when predicting success. In his chapter on "Rice Paddies and Math Tests" he examines the cultural roots of the indisputable Asian advantage in math. There's a linguistic angle, but agriculture is central. To summarize, the cultivation of rice is a complex, demanding but rewarding form of farming. Unlike wheat or corn, rice is planted year round. And it requires mental as well as physical attention. The Asian pattern of rising before dawn to work all day all year long is thousands of years old. Now consider this: When students take the TIMSS test, an international test of math proficiency, they are also asked to fill out a questionnaire consisting of more than 120 questions. Many students don't bother to answer all the questions — but different countries have different rates of compliance. A researcher from the University of Pennsylvania noticed that the rate of compliance with the questionnaire and performance on the math test were exactly the same. In other words, as Gladwell explains, "we could predict precisely the order in which every country would finish in the Math Olympics without asking a single math question." The students who had the patience to answer the questionnaire completely also had the persistence to solve the math problems. If this much hasn't peaked your curiosity, "Outliers" also contains an intriguing chapter on "The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes," and a moving story of a true genius, Chris Langan, who dropped out after a single year of college. This is a great book by a writer who is obviously talented and hard-working. As to his luck, well, we are lucky to have him. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. Comment on JWR contributor Mona Charen's column by clicking here. Mona Charen Archives © 2006, Creators Syndicate

Arnold Ahlert  Mitch Albom  Jay Ambrose  Michael Barone  Barrywood  Lori Borgman  Stratfor Briefing  Mona Charen  Linda Chavez  Richard Z. Chesnoff  Ann Coulter  Greg Crosby  Larry Elder  Suzanne Fields  Christine Flowers  Peter Funt  Frank J. Gaffney  Bernie Goldberg  Jonah Goldberg  Julia Gorin  Jonathan Gurwitz  Paul Greenberg  Argus Hamilton  Victor Davis Hanson  Betsy Hart  Ron Hart  Nat Hentoff  A. Barton Hinkle  Jeff Jacoby  Paul Johnson  John Kass  Jack Kelly  Ch. Krauthammer  David Limbaugh  Kathryn Lopez  Rich Lowry  Michelle Malkin  Jackie Mason  Ann McFeatters  Dale McFeatters  Dana Milbank  Jeanne Moos  Dick Morris  Jim Mullen  Deroy Murdock  Judge A. Napolitano  Bill O'Reilly  Clarence Page  Kathleen Parker  Star Parker  Dennis Prager  Wesley Pruden  Tom Purcell  Sharon Randall  Michael Reagan  Robert Robb  Cokie & Steve Roberts  Heather Robinson  Debra J. Saunders  Martin Schram  Greg Schwem  Culture Shlock  David Shribman  Roger Simon  Lenore Skenazy  Michael Smerconish  Thomas Sowell  Mark Steyn  John Stossel  Cal Thomas  Dan Thomasson  Bob Tyrrell  Diana West  Dave Weinbaum  George Will  Walter Williams  Byron York  Cathy Young  Mort Zuckerman  Eric Allie  Robert Arial  Chuck Asay  Baloo  Nate Beeler  Lisa Benson  Chip Bok  Dry Bones  John Branch  Daryl Cagle  Patrick Chappatte  John Cole  Paul Combs  J. D. Crowe  John Darkow  Bill Day  John Deering  Sean Delonas  Brian Duffy  Everything's Relative  Randall Enos  Mallard Fillmore  David Fitzsimmons  Glenn Foden  Jake Fuller  Bob Gorrel  Walt Handelsman  Joe Heller  David Hitch  Jerry Holbert  David Horsey  Lee Judge  Steve Kelley  Mike Keefe  Jeff Koterba  Dick Locher  Chan Lowe  Jimmy Margulies  Gary McCoy  Rick McKee  Jack Ohman  Jeff Parker  Milt Priggee  Michael Ramirez  Rob Rogers  Steve Sack  Bill Schorr  Drew Sheneman  Kevin Siers  David Ray Skinner  Jeff Stahler  Scott Stantis  Danna Summers  Gary Varvel  Kirk Walters  Christopher Weyant  Larry Wright  Dan Wasserman  Adam Zyglis  Tech Q&A  Mr. Know-It-All  Ask Doctor K  Richard Lederer  Frugal Living  On Nutrition  Bookmark These  Bruce Williams